Bonus Friedman

Readers of the STB.org know that we really like Tom Friedman. Well, I was able to take a few minutes last night and catch up on the tremendous backlog of news and opinion pieces I have in my Google Reader and I came across a Friedman article that needs its own posting. It is titled, "Adults Only, Please" and is about the political paralysis we see in the leadership of this country at nearly every level.

A brief preview:

No doubt, this is a lousy season to be the leader of any institution. We are in the midst of a long period of austerity, where all that most leaders will be able to do is cut, fire and trim. It is so easy to play populism and run against them. But this time is different. When our government is this deeply involved in propping up our economy, and the economy is this fragile, politics as usual will kill us. We badly need leaders inspired by sustainable values, not situational ones. Without that, we’ll just be digging our hole deeper and making the reckoning, when it comes, that much more ferocious.

This completely sums up the Strong Towns philosophy. We highly recommend you take the time to read the entire article.